Rob Ford ‘pumped’ about Pan Am Games after Mexico trip

Rob Ford 'pumped' about Pan Am Games after trip to Guadalajara, Mexico

Mayor Rob Ford says he is “pumped” about the Pan American Games coming to Toronto after traveling to Guadalajara, Mexico for the closing ceremonies of this year’s competition.

“It was well worth the trip and I wish everybody saw what I saw,” said Mr. Ford, who accepted the Games’ flag in a stadium packed with 50,000 onlookers on Sunday. He said he visited the athletes village, and caught a glimpse of the amount of training and work that the competitors put in.

“The economy, the amount of business that it creates, this city will be the brightest star in the world when the Pan Am games gets here. We’re going to have it spotless, people are talking already about it,” he said.

The Pan Am Games will take place across the Golden Horseshoe the summer of 2015, in facilities such as a new aquatic centre at the U of T Scarborough campus.

It is touted as the largest event on Canadian soil, twice the size of the Vancouver Olympics. “Mark my words when it gets here it’s going to create thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars for the economy.

It’s going to be a win win for everybody. I’m pumped about these games,” said Mr. Ford.

The Mayor passed earlier this year on putting together an exploratory committee to bid on the 2020 Olympic Summer Games over concerns it would be too expensive. Earlier this year elected officials learned the city would have to pay almost double the original quote — about $96-million — for its share of building new or improved Pan Am sports facilities that are worth nearly $350-million.